Call for Papers: Pogrom: November 1938 - Terror, Testimony, Translation

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Wednesday, 24 June, 2015
Closure of Call for Papers: 30 July 2015
Event date: 5-6 November 2015

This autumn the Wiener Library will launch a new book and online resource Pogrom: November 1938. This will make the Library’s unique collection of testimonies from eyewitnesses to the November Pogrom widely available for the first time in English. To mark this occasion, the Library will be convening an academic workshop to encourage discussion of three topics – terror, testimony and translation – each of which are of crucial and particular importance to Holocaust research.

Understanding of the past

Taken individually the three themes of the seminar are broad enough to be fields of enquiry in themselves, but they also have a particular significance in current Holocaust research. The inter-relationship between Nazi state terror and popular consent remains a key debate for many researchers seeking to understand how the Holocaust was possible. Expansion in the use of testimony not only as an historical source but also as an educational resource has also generated lively discussion in recent years. Lastly, the Holocaust as an event that cannot be adequately understood without excellent translation work across multiple languages, constantly needs to question the impact of this process on our understanding of the past.

Translation

The three themes of the seminar have each shaped the work of the Pogrom: November 1938 project - from its beginning three years ago to its recent completion. The fact that the testimonies of eyewitnesses of ‘Kristallnacht’ were reported by individuals who had themselves only recently been victims of Nazi terror, shaped the project’s approach to translation of these documents.

New insights

To what extent are the problems of language, subjectivity and historical research interrelated? Can new approaches to translation also generate new insights into the nature of historical events or documents, and eyewitness testimonies in particular? What can scholars of the Holocaust learn from other fields of enquiry that have examined terrorised minorities or majorities?

Papers

These questions and others will be examined at the Wiener Library on 5-6 November 2015 following a keynote book launch on the evening of 4 November. We would like to invite papers on any of the three named themes. Submissions of up to 400 words, accompanied by a short CV, should be sent to nlavee@wienerlibrary.co.uk no later than 30 July 2015; inquiries should be addressed to Dr Toby Simpson, tsimpson@wienerlibrary.co.uk. Limited support for travel and accommodation will be made available for successful applicants. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their submission by 1 September 2015.

This event has been made possible through the generous support of the Dulverton Trust.